Notes on Rhadeis
Notes on Rhadeis, by Izyati as-Kaladan. Part 1 Vas Vha'leih, dear reader. In this series of short scrolls, I, Izyati as-Kaladan, will try to briefly explain who and what Rhadeis is, what he was believed to be, and what he means to Avikan society. Rhadeis was once considered to be a god. A mythical being that saw all, knew all, and influenced the world in many ways. He was believed to be the harbinger of life and death, and the guardian of our people. But this was before the discovery of Vas Vha'leih - the first city of the Old Ones. Nowadays we know that Rhadeis was no god, no mythical being - he was in fact an Old One. The Old Ones are a topic for another series of scrolls entirely, but in short, they are a race of ancient sentient aliens who visited Kadavan long before the Avikan lived there. They left behind many artefacts, both large and small, as well as two great cities, Vas Vha'leih and Vhalas Vha'leih. Part 2 The artefacts of the Old Ones were scattered all across Kadavan, and were found by the Avikan of ancient times long before they developed a modern society. These artefacts guided our technological development, and without them, we would not have been who we are today.", While most artefacts were simply found, the first few artefacts our ancient ancestors acquired are said to have been given to them directly by one of the Old Ones. Our ancestors took this as a sign that a divine creature, Rhadeis, then known simply as Dhas, or God, looked over us and that he created not only the artefacts, but the world and ourselves as well. Sometime around 2500 BF, our nomadic ancestors found a city, a construct they had never seen before, which was decorated in the same style as the artefacts. Our ancestors believed it to be the Seat of Dhas, and eventually settled there. Part 3 Sometime during their stay at the Seat of Dhas, it is said that Rhadeis appeared before our ancestors, and that he spoke to us in an alien language that we somehow understood. He told our ancestors that this city, called Vas Vha'leih, was once his home, and that from it, he had guided our race's development since before we were even Avikan. He told us that his name was Rhadeis, and that he was not alone, although he was the leader of the Ce'Tennan, who we know as the Old Ones, stationed on Kadavan. He invited our ancestors into the inner city, unlocking the vault doors that we could never have opened ourselves, and then he vanished. Over the next few centuries, our ancestors would study Vas Vha'leih and its artefacts, and they developed many of the technologies we use today based on their research. After the Vha'leihan War and the subsequent Exodus from Vas Vha'leih, this research became slow and difficult, as the war damaged much of the ancient city, and few dared return there. Part 4 Nowadays, over 2500 years after the discovery of Vas Vha'leih and the encounter with Rhadeis, we know much more about Rhadeis and the Old Ones, through study of both Vas Vha'leih and Vhalas Vha'leih. Perhaps the greatest find was the discovery that Rhadeis was actually an outcast of the Ce'Tennan, who defied his orders to better help our people. Rhadeis was an Overseer, a Ce'Tennan assigned to the task of monitoring a planet and guiding its development when needed. We learned that there were many more Overseers throughout the galaxy, and beyond, but their exact goals are still unknown. They guided the development of many planets and species, but why, we do not know. What we do know is that Overseers were forbidden from interacting directly with their assigned species, and that Rhadeis defied these orders. He intervened during some great catastrophe in ancient times, one that would have eradicated our species, and then decided he would help us survive by gifting our ancestors with artefacts of his own people. Part 5 When the Ce'Tennan found out about Rhadeis's actions, they made him an outcast, but what happened then is unclear. The records found in Vhalas Vha'leih ended there, and what happened to Rhadeis and the other Ce'Tennan on Kadavan is still a mystery. We know that, at some point, they vanished from the planet, but how and why is unknown. The first contact with Rhadeis is believed by most scientists today to have been a recorded message, but how the vision of Rhadeis himself worked is unknown. Perhaps it was a holographic display far beyond our technology, or perhaps Rhadeis did appear in the flesh – we might never know. Another unknown factor is the timeframe within which all this happened. Rhadeis's intervention in the unknown catastrophe, and his gifts to our people, may have happened a few thousand years before the discovery of Vas Vha'leih, or it may have happened hundreds of thousands of years before. The records of Vhalas Vha'leih, unfortunately, could not tell us this. Part 6 Although all the discoveries about Rhadeis made him look less like a god to many, for he is, or perhaps was, a mortal Ce'Tennan, his actions have made him more than a god to many more. He did not create us, but he did guide us, and without him, we would not be alive today. Whether or not he still guides us today is much debated. Some believe that Rhadeis might be dead, or that he simply vanished to some unknown place along with the rest of his people, but others believe that he still influences our lives today. Every day, there are new reports of miracular events, and of visions of Rhadeis offering support in people's dreams. The technology of the Old Ones makes communication over any distance possible, and their artefacts sometimes have strange effects on people's minds, so perhaps Rhadeis is, in fact, communicating with us through space, or perhaps, through time. Part 7 There is much we still do not know or understand about Rhadeis, and the Old Ones in general, but I hope that this short scroll at least helped you understand who Rhadeis is, and how much he means to our people. Rhadeis guide your path, dear reader. Category:Avikan Lore